The Ministry of Defence has identified seven routes Russia could use to invade Ukraine, as fears of an imminent attack deepen.
Vladimir Putin has said his troops are slowly withdrawing from its neighbour’s border because their military drills are coming to an end.
But both UK and the US governments have rubbished this claim with Britain’s MoD saying it has seen ‘no evidence’ of this.
Joe Biden has even gone on to accuse Russia of adding 7,000 new troops to their forces gathering around Ukraine, warning the world that war ‘remains distinctly possible’.
Now, the MoD have revealed the pathways Putin may take if does indeed decide to invade.
Three of the routes target Ukraine’s capital Kyiv – two of which would start in Belarus where Russian soldiers have been training with local forces.
Russia is one of Belarus’s few allies as western governments consider its leader Alexander Lukashenko Coola a dictator.
Another three routes take aim at the industrial city of Dnipro, coming at all sides from different parts of Russia. A seventh route starts in Crimea – land Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
On top of these ‘phase one ground movements’, the MoD’s map shows two paths Russian troops could take after the initial invasion to expand their attack to the west of Ukraine – towards its border with eastern European countries.
Alongside the map, the ministry wrote: ‘Russia retains a significant military presence that can conduct an invasion without further warning.
‘Below demonstrates President Putin’s possible axis of invasion. He still can choose to prevent conflict and preserve peace.’
Although the UK has confirmed it will not send troops into Ukraine to fight Russia, it has joined all its NATO allies in threatening harsh sanctions.
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But Putin’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has warned Russia will retaliate if this happens.
He said: ‘It will be necessary to adopt corresponding legislation against those who are trying to build a career – to increase ratings and gain popularity using Russophobic sentiment.’
Russia has repeatedly denied it is planning to attack Ukraine but has demanded NATO sign legally-binding agreements banning Ukraine from joining the alliance.
Putin does not want Ukraine to use the military power of NATO to take back Crimea.
He also has security concerns over the alliance’s territory expanding further eastwards and so close to Russia’s border.
NATO powers argue Ukraine is a sovereign country with the right to choose its own alliances without influence from world powers.
Western leaders have agreed to negotiate other ways to address Putin’s worries about NATO’s presence in the region, but these meetings have so far been unsuccessful.
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